Looking to build a home in Wales that would be low-impact in nature for his family of a wife and two children, Simon Dale decided to create one that was unique and emphasized simplicity. That home eventually became known as the Hobbit House, even though that wasn’t the original plan when it was built.
A three-minute video has Dale explaining why he chose to build a home this way. The inspiration came from a book entitled, “Shelter,” which showed how home architecture could be developed for those with a wide imagination.
The first building attempt came shortly before the birth of his first child. It was a round, straw bale home on stilts, which was on a platform, a process that took two months.
The next attempt was the Hobbit House, and involved much more work, but maintained the same basic philosophy of having it primarily be a home made of straw bale. This was a home that built into the hillside.
When the home was completed, Dale posted some photos online for the friends who had helped him. At that point, some other bloggers happened to notice this unique structure and gave it a much wider audience.
That resulted in a huge surge of popularity, which caused it to become something of a tourist attraction. That’s because not only were people from London making the relatively short trip to view this home, but people across the Atlantic Ocean were coming from the United States to savor the simplicity involved.